Time capsule.

Register to hide this ad
My sister also unearthed this child's gas mask from WWII that mom brought with her from England. She used it during the Liverpool blitz.

The British came up with some strange non-combatant gas masks early in the war. They were expecting Hitler to use chemical weapons on London. They had sort of space suits for younger pre-teen kids and baby buggies with sealed chambers for babies.

The U.S. also had a stockpile of non-combatant gas masks for civilians but they were not widely issued. At one time I had one. Sold it on eBay maybe 15 years ago. It brought a pretty good price, a lot higher than I expected.
 
My dad had a similar canister gas mask, I imagine it was part of his volunteer fireman equipment. The only time I ever saw it used was when one of my sisters had some friends from high school over when Mom & Dad were up at our cottage for the weekend. They made a bong out of it. It was during my pre-indulgence days so I had nothing to do with it. One day I noticed the mask was gone. Dad never said a word, but I think he threw it out.
 
During the war, my father was the Army inspector at the factory which made gas masks for the US military. After the war I remember playing army and I always had a gas mask with me. We put extra long hoses on the masks and used them underwater.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top